159 - Understanding Hearing Difficulty in Adults with Normal Audiograms: Insights from Christina Roup, PhD

This week, Brian Taylor welcomes Professor Christina Roup from The Ohio State University to discuss adults with normal audiograms and self-reported hearing difficulty. The prevalence of this condition is estimated to be around 12-15% in younger and middle-aged adults, with a higher prevalence in older age groups and those with a history of traumatic brain injury. Dr. Rouf reviews some of the latest research on this topic and how it can inform clinicians who work with this population. She also presents insights from her research, where she found that amplification with mild gain hearing aids significantly improved speech-in-noise performance for adults with normal audiograms and self-reported hearing difficulties. She encourages clinicians to listen to their patients' complaints and take them seriously, using speech-in-noise tests as a routine part of their clinical battery to provide appropriate treatment options. Studies mentioned in this interview:

• Beck, D, & Danhauer, J.L. (2019). Amplification for adults with hearing difficulty, speech in noise problems – and normal thresholds. Journal of Otolaryngology-ENT Research, 22(1), 84-88.
• Cameron, S. & Dillon, H. (2007). Development of the Listening in Spatialized Noise- Sentences test (LiSN-S). Ear and Hearing, 28(2), 196-211.
• Helfer, K. S., & Jesse, A. (2021). Hearing and speech processing in midlife. Hearing Research, 402, 108097.
• Helfer, K.S., & Vargo, M. (2009). Speech recognition and temporal processing in middle-aged women. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 20, 264-271. DOI: 10.3766/jaaa.20.4.6
• Roup, C.M., Custer, A., & Powell, J. (2021). The relationship between, self-perceived hearing ability and binaural speech-in-noise performance in adults with normal pure-tone hearing. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 1-12.
• Roup, C.M., Post, E., & Lewis, J. (2018). Mild-gain hearing aids as a treatment for adults with self-reported hearing difficulties. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 29, 477-94.
• Spankovich, C., Gonzalez, V. B., Su, D., & Bishop, C. E. (2018). Self reported hearing difficulty, tinnitus, and normal audiometric thresholds, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002. Hearing Research, 358, 30-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2017.12.001
• Tremblay, K., Pinto, A., Fischer, M.E., Klein, B. E. K., Klein, R., Levy, S. . . . Cruickshanks, K. J. (2015). Self-reported hearing difficulties among adults with normal audiograms: The Beaver Dam Offspring Study. Ear and Hearing, 36(6), e290-e299. DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000195

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